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“Were you guys filming stuff here?”
“Yeah,” Caelan says with a shrug. “Just dicking around for the time being. Hashing out some ideas for videos for the next album. It’s easier to do it here.”
“How come?”
“I dunno. Creative freedom, I guess.”
“Do music videos these days not have an entire team behind them? Film crews and everything? Or do you do that later?”
Caelan barks a laugh. “Fuck ’em. We’remeantto, but it’s stupid. Having to pretend to be humans pretending to be demons for a bunch of up-their-ass nerds.”
“Caelan, don’t be a brat,” Elias says as he returns. He lightly clips Caelan around the back of the head again. It almost appears more of a hair ruffle. “They’re professionals, and they do their job to the best of their abilities. But, to answer your question…” he turns his attention to me now, “… it is simply easier to avoid getting too many others involved. Although we can take a human form near flawlessly, should a camera crew realize while filming that the ‘special effects’ are beyond what they or any of the team are doing, and with their working experience and expertise in the field, theywouldnotice, the situation becomes rather awkward. It’s simply easier to film by ourselves.”
“Never expected we’d end up with half a goddamn filmography degree’s worth of accidental knowledge, but shit happens,” Caelan adds.
“Okaaay,” I say. It makes sense. Or, at least, it makes sense after accepting the whole demon thing. Which I still need some time to process. Right now, it is too much to take at once. My brain is numb from shock. I might as well accept their reasoning—it’s hardly the weirdest thing about the whole situation. “So that’s why you’re here?”
“Yes. We had a spare day before being required for further shows, so we figured we would take advantage of the time,” Elias explains.
“This place is basically shut down, and we have free run of it to do what we like, no assholes breathing over our shoulders. It’s pretty cool.”
“And what aboutyou?” Elias asks smoothly.
I blink, finding him staring me down with a scrutinizing gaze that feels far too intense.
“What’s the reason you’re here? I think perhaps that is the more pressing concern.”
Oh. That. Shit.I don’t even know how to explain it to myself, never mind to him. “I knew about this place from some of your videos. The location name was mentioned once, and I looked it up because I thought it was interesting. Anyway, I was around the area, so I thought I’d take a look.”
He’s still watching me closely, with eyes that are dark enough to look almost entirely black. There’s no denying it’s intimidating. I want to shrink away beneath his gaze—it’s like it could pierce right through my soul. As much as I stumble over my words and try to make them sound casual and unimportant, he’s not buying that façade.
“That seems quite dedicated,” he finally comments lowly, almost a touch of a purr to the statement. “To us?”
I can feel my face heating up. God. Why does he have to say it likethat?
Elias steps forward to stand in front of me. My knees are slightly parted with the way I’m sitting on the counter, and all of a sudden, I find them framing either side of his waist. The additional height from being perched up here puts me face to face with Elias, and there’s nowhere for me to look except right at him. Staring at him so close is making my heart skip in a strange way.
“Did you come to seek us out, dear? Because it seems you found us. And such dedicationisappreciated. Perhaps a reward is in order.”
“I… uh…” If it wasn’t before, I’m certain my face must be bright red by now.
Caelan snorts, thankfully rescuing me from having to respond to that. “Christ. Reaching much? Goddamn creeper.”
“I was only teasing. There’s no need to be jealous, Caelan.”
“Jealous of what? Your complete lack of charm?”
Elias laughs at that. The insult is thoroughly baseless, and they both know it. He was certainly doing a damn good job of leaving me flustered. And, although it’s still utterly bizarre, I can’t deny I was sort of enjoying having Elias flirt with me.
Even though I’m not sure why he’d want to be flirting with me at all.
That thought is sobering. They’ve only been pleasant thus far. But even if I’m starting to get a feel for their personalities, it would be stupid to forget they’re demons. Not human, that’s for sure. And who the hell can know the motivations of creatures like that?
“Wait,” I ask abruptly. “Stupid question, but if you’re, um… demons? Why thehellare you here? Going on tour, making music videos, and pretending to have a band, of all things? That seems so bizarre and convoluted.”
Both pairs of unnatural eyes settle on me. Elias slowly raises an eyebrow and Caelan cackles.
“Um… I mean. I’m sorry, it’s not any of my business,” I quickly backtrack.
